Thirsty Thursdays: Liquid Art

In this heat, should Thirsty Thursdays be every day? Just when I think the heat has blown its final gasket, it boils back up there again.  Being a red wine drinker, it will not be fall soon enough. I guess I could chill it some. However, the heat has given me an excuse to see what all those unused bottles on our "bar" are good for and what kind of beverage I can coax out of them.

I have a lot of respect for bartenders. They have a vast, complex and curious palette of flavors and mixers to work with....really beverage creation is like liquid art that has to be as pretty as it is delicious as it is spirited. A tall order! Here is to all of you who create and pour amazing cocktails and wines every day!

Yesterday The New York Times cover story in their "Dining and Wine" section was on watermelons, specifically the new seedless ones being grown in Hope, AR. You may remember awhile back, I did a whole post on Hope, "Hope in a Glass", 7/15/10. Fun. And, there was also a curious bottle in our stash...grenadine syrup. It got me thinking. Would  watermelon and grenadine be a good mix? Pretty, delicious and spirited? I went back to my trusty resource, http://www.watermelon.org/ and they were one step ahead of me. Done deal. Here is a cool and luscious drink for today's Happy Hour, using both grenadine syrup and watermelon. Look at this beauty.

Watermelon Wine Spritzers

2 cups small cubed chilled seedless watermelon
1 bottle chilled Chardonnay
2 tablespoons grenadine syrup
12 ounces chilled sparkling mineral water

Divide the watermelon among 6 to 8 white wine glasses, then divide the wine, grenadine, and sparkling water among the glasses and give them a quick stir. Serve immediately. Makes 6 to 8 spritzers.

Here is the link to the NYT article and while you are there, check out another delicious beverage recipe: Watermelon and Ginger Spritzer. Yum!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/dining/18melons.html?ref=dining